I am just going to ask you a few questions about some of the things that you said yesterday before we move on to continue what you were talking about and just for purposes of Defence counsel I will give you any references I use just ahead of time of the question and the first one is actually from page 12127 of yesterday's transcript, lines 10 through 16.

Mrs Witness, yesterday you were talking about the time when the Abidjan Peace Accord was signed and then where you were, you were attacked by the Kamajors and that you and your group were scattered until the AFRC coup. Now, I asked you whether or not you were operating on a radio at that time, at the time between when you were attacked by the Kamajors in the Black Water area up until the time of the AFRC coup, and yesterday you answered, "At that time I was not operating because so many things were missing from us, thus causing us not to switch on our radios." What did you mean when you said "because so many things were missing from us"?

I meant that the things that we used to switch the radio on, like the solar plate, which was what we used to charge the battery, and the battery itself were damaged, which made us not to be able to switch on the radio because there was no battery or solar plate because that was the energy we used.

Now the next question I have from something you said yesterday and, counsel opposite, this is page 12193, the portion of the response I will be referring to runs from lines 24 to 29. Yesterday I was asking you about the time when you were - you knew about arms and ammunitions coming from Buedu to Superman Ground and I asked you what you meant when you said these arms and ammunitions came from Buedu, "What do you mean by that?"

You said you knew they came from Buedu "because when people would come from Superman's location or a group of people, if they were, for example, to go and escort a person like when they went to escort the ECOMOG soldier they had a crossing point at that riverside."

You went on to say, "So those who were in Buedu, the armed men, the trained men who were unarmed men, would carry the materials on their heads and they would bring it to the commander who would be leading the other group that would have come from our own end."

Now I am going to ask you first of all what did you mean when you said, "The armed men, the trained men who were unarmed men would carry the materials on their heads"?

If I said the trained men who were not armed? Of course the armed men were those who had weapons who were in front of the group in case of anything that they would meet like enemy troop, they would be the ones to fight. And those whom I said were trained men went to the base and they left the base as trained combatants, but they did not have weapons. Those were the ones we called unarmed men and they were the ones who would carry those arms and ammunition.

You also said, "They would carry the materials on their heads and they would bring it to the commander who would be leading the other group." What did you mean when you said, "They would bring it to the commander who would be leading the other group"?

I believe that wherever a group is formed and they have somebody leading that group and if anything has to happen in that group, like a command or anything, it has to go through that commander. So if they brought those arms and ammunition from Buedu, the commander who would be leading that group that would be coming from Buedu should hand it over to the commander who would be leading the group that had come from Superman's ground. That commander who had come from Superman's ground would command his own men whom he would be going with who and who should carry those things to bring them back.

So in the instance that you're talking about, which was the first time you knew about arms and ammunitions coming from Buedu to Superman Ground, do you remember who the man was who was sent from Superman's ground to go ahead and carry these things back?

The next reference, counsel, is 12195, line 19. Mrs Witness, yesterday when I was asking you about what happened to civilians, what you saw at PC Ground, you said that, "The RUF would capture civilians, men, women and children." What specifically would happen to the children who were captured?

When I said children, it was those who were above eight to - that was from eight to 13 years who were not tall enough to be considered as adults and those children too went to the training base and they were referred to as SBUs if they were boys and if they were girls they were referred to as SGUs and when they would graduate the commander at the base would distribute them. At times it would be that somebody who might have gone to the war front and captured that boy or girl and brought that person, so if that boy or girl graduates he will take him or her again. But if that person is not willing to take the boy or girl the training commander would give the boy or girl to any other commander to stay with him and work for him. He will send him or her to work for him.

It was around the town, but in the bush. It was just after the last house. If you are coming from Koidu it was at your left-hand side that it was located and you would be at the base and could see into the town.

Now, next reference, counsel, is 12197, lines 24 to 28. Mrs Witness, yesterday I asked you another question about what was happening to the civilians while you were at PC Ground and you said that they would carry loads and I asked you what you meant by that and in your response you said:

"So you who were not carrying a gun and a civilian, then civilians who were captured were the ones who carried whatever property that they got from those areas where they were captured. They were the ones who carried them to the base."

I just need to clarify what you meant by this portion, so the first question I have is when you say, "The civilians who were captured were the ones who carried whatever property", what do you mean when you say "whatever property"?

When I said property, it could be clothing, it could be food, bags. When some men looted and they would put them into those bags they will give them to civilians to carry it for them, or maybe they will give the civilians sheep or goats to carry. I mean anything that they took from those towns that they captured, they would give them to civilians to be carried for them, to be brought to the base.

Sometimes I will say it was the civilians, but there were some other towns where military men like the SLA or ECOMOG were based so I cannot differentiate who owned what or who owned what, but I knew that they were property belonging to other people other than us.

Now, you said that some of this property included clothing and food? One moment. I am going to repeat that question, Mrs Witness. You said some of this property included clothing and food. Is that correct?

Now, yesterday I was asking you about operations while you were at PC Ground related to civilians. In one of the answers you gave you said that:

"... they came in contact mostly with civilians when ECOMOG were based, they had the full assurance to stay because they believed that they were safe, but when there was an attack they were unable to move just like the ECOMOG would do."

Well I will explain it like I said, because civilians were not trained like how the military men were trained. Somebody who had been trained as a fighter, or a soldier, he would know if he heard a gun sound or the jet he would know what to do, but the civilians did not know what to do in those times. So if there was firing going on he would not know where to go, whether where he would be going he would meet the rebels, that was the RUF, or he would meet the ECOMOG. He will just run.

The time ECOMOG was advancing the support that they had made the civilians to trust them, but wherever ECOMOG captured, or recaptured from the RUF, the civilians will come and base with them there in the town. They would go with the feeling that the rebels will never enter that town again, because they knew that ECOMOG were fully armed and therefore they could not be dislodged. So, most people would come to the town and settle there wherever ECOMOG was based.

I saw women at Tefeya whom they said it was the combatants who were under the RUF in Tefeya who had captured them from Bumpe and I did not know them before that time. I saw them there and they had not been to the base yet.

Also yesterday - and this is just a general clarification, counsel, there is not really a reference - you referred to an operation at Koidu Geiya and you said you know Rambo was there for this operation. Which Rambo are you referring to?

Now, yesterday you were talking about when you overheard or monitored a radio conversation between radio operators in Gandorhun and Tefeya concerning this expression, "Pull yu han pan di war", or, "Remove your hand from the war, remove your foot from the war", and I asked you yesterday, "Do you know where these operations were happening, what area?", and you said, "Along the Bumpe area because they were running that operation ..." --

What counsel is saying is there was no reference at all. I have a different recollection from counsel, but my learned colleague concurs with counsel and therefore it is important that we get the exact - make sure exactly what the record is. You have quoted, Mr Santora. What is the --

My objection is consistent with what Justice Sebutinde has said. The witness never spoke Krio words as translated by the interpreter. She spoke it and it came out in English, "Remove your hands and your feet from the war." Counsel in his question injected the Krio interpretation of that in English.

I will, your Honour, but just for the record I did not - I spoke exactly what the witness said yesterday from my recollection and I did use the Krio expression. However the witness did say that exact Krio expression, so Justice Sebutinde is exactly right that it is not on the record.

No, Mr Santora, there is a difference in that previously a witness has given evidence that this command or comment by the rebels was actually said in Krio. Now, this witness hasn't said it was given to them in Krio. That is the subtle difference. You are injecting the Krio word as if it is part of the evidence. It is not.

The communication that you referred to yesterday which you said yesterday, "The one that I monitored when they said 'Take your hand off the war. Take your foot off the war'", what exactly did you hear them say?

Like I said yesterday I heard them talking, that was one operator from Yomandu and another from Gandorhun, discussing. The one was telling the other that, "People are daring. When they amputate people's arms they will say ..." --

Well, Mr Santora, perhaps you can clear this up. You asked the witness, "What exactly did you hear them say?" Do you mean verbatim, in other words if she was listening to the Krio language you want her answer in Krio?

Well I don't know if you want me to speak English directly, but what I understood by that as I said yesterday because the people whose hands were amputated were civilians, it was the RUF fighters who amputated civilians' hands and their feet and whenever they wanted to do this action that was what they told the civilians, the expression I just said in Krio, which meant that they were not to be involved in the war. They were not to have anything to do with the war. It was not the business of a civilian.

Your Honours, Madam President, I apologise to interrupt but I register an objection to this. As Justice Sebutinde pointed out, in the past when witnesses have come before your Honours when they are testifying verbatim about a Krio phrase they heard for example over the BBC or such they say it in Krio, it comes out in the transcript in Krio but the interpreter interprets it into its English meaning.

The crux of this problem is that the witness is recounting conversations between radio operators who are relaying - actually it's triple hearsay. The radio operators in question are relaying what they understood RUF soldiers to be saying on the field vis-a-vis the amputation of civilians. The witness overhears this conversation. It does not necessarily follow that the RUF operators between Gandorhun and Tefeya were using the exact precise phrase that is alleged to have been used in the field by the RUF operators.

The Prosecution is now attempting to get a particular phrase onto the record. It's a Krio phrase. The languages of this Court, as your Honours know, are English - well, the primary language - and the interpretation should be done in English. He has tried in the first instance to get the interpreter to interpret it in Krio onto the English record which makes no sense whatsoever and now we are spending time on questioning where the foundation for the particular phrase they wish to introduce is there but is double or triple hearsay and your Honours retain the discretion in certain instances to preclude that.

I have no problem in having the translator make the translation, but just in response, because counsel has talked about whether this is triple hearsay. First of all, aside from the fact that there is no rule against hearsay, this is about this witness's recollection and it's about the reliability of what she heard as a radio operator. Now, I would be happy to have the translator translate exactly what "Pull yu han pan di war" meant, but I wanted it to come from the witness if she understood, but I would be happy to --

Then I would just ask the translator to make the translation for the record. Mr Translator, can you translate what the expression "Pull yu han pan di war, pull yu foot pan di war" - can you translate that?

Initially, your Honour, this question started with relation to whether an area that this was can occurring in - and it's only after the objection was raised, because of the fact that I used Krio words when the record had the English words to this expression. I was not seeking to even go into this area for this particular issue, so there was no - this just comes out of counsel's objection to my use of the Krio expression.

The initial question simply had to do with the page reference I gave Defence counsel was when the witness said, "They were running that operation around Bumpe to Tefeya" and I was just going to clarify what she meant by that area when she said "around Bumpe to Tefeya". So initially that was the only point to raise this issue, your Honour.

I said it happened around Bumpe and Gandorhun station which was operating around Njaiama Sewafe, but I was not patient enough to listen to them and to know what particular station this incident happened.

Yes, but what operation exactly are you alluding to because, as far as I understand the evidence this lady gave yesterday, she was reporting a conversation she overheard from where she was and she went as far as saying, if my memory serves me right, that she wasn't really sure exactly who they were referring to or where exactly this is supposed to have taken place, the amputations. Now you're asking a question saying there was a particular operation where the amputations happened.

Yes. Yesterday I asked that question, "Where is this happening when you heard these messages", as your Honour just said, because that's how she heard about it. Her response was, "Along that Bumpe area because they were running that operation along Bumpe to Tefeya." So that operation refers to the operation concerning amputations.

Now, Mrs Witness, yesterday towards the end of the day I asked you why you went to Buedu with Superman and in your response - I am sorry, counsel, this is 12209, really line 26 is the issue. In your response you said, "They gave Issa Sesay diamonds to take to Liberia." When you said "they" what did you mean?

Now yesterday at the very end of the day I asked you what happened when you got to Buedu and you started giving your answer and before you continue I just want to ask you about a portion of the answer that you did give yesterday.

I am sorry to interrupt, but just before you leave that point the witness said that "Issa Sesay went with those diamonds to Charles Taylor so that he would bring arms and ammunition." Weren't the diamonds stolen before they ever got anywhere near Charles Taylor, if in fact that was where they were meant to be.

I was going to, in the course of her testimony, elicit to the extent she knows whatever happened to these particular diamonds that she's referring to, but I am only going to elicit that - I was going to elicit what she knows about the extent of this transaction, or attempted transaction.

Yes, I have a foundational objection. We have a foundation for when she heard this information from Major Sellay as well as Sebatu. We don't have any foundation for when Issa Sesay is alleged to have gone to Liberia with diamonds.

I believe that I said it here yesterday that I was at Superman's ground when this diamond issue came up. I was not in Buedu and they never sent a message from Buedu station to us at Superman's station that Sam Bockarie had given Issa Sesay diamonds to take them to Liberia.

We only came to know about these diamonds when Issa Sesay reported to Sam Bockarie that the diamonds that he had given to him had gone missing and because these diamonds went missing and people were grumbling around that if it were any other person within the RUF other than him who may have lost those diamonds, Sam Bockarie would have killed that person. So commanders and soldiers alike wanted to know what they were going to do to Issa for those missing diamonds and it was during that time that I got a message for Superman and other commanders from the other stations to move to Buedu and hold a meeting about those diamonds so that they will tell them exactly what had happened and what they had to do.

It was during this time that I too went with Superman to Buedu and it was when I got to Buedu that I understood from Major Sellay why Issa was given these diamonds and at that time Issa had gone to Liberia with the diamonds and they had gone missing before he came back, before we - before the meeting was called for and when I went to Buedu.

From what I know that's what I am saying and I am sure of it. I never asked Issa Sesay or any other commander what happened to the diamonds, but Issa Sesay complained that he lost the diamonds and when I got to Buedu I learnt there that when he went to Liberia he was lodged at a hotel, according to his explanation. It was at that hotel that he lost the diamonds.

"So that was why she has left to come back home and I saw the vehicles leaving when they were going to Foya from Buedu, but I did not know who went in that convoy."

That's where you stopped yesterday. Actually you said, "They came back that same day in the evening. When they came --" and then you stopped. So I want you to continue explaining what you were talking about when you said, "Her master, who was Sam Bockarie, were leaving to go to Foya." Just go ahead and pick up from there.

When Sebatu came and told me that Master and others were leaving for Foya, that was why she had come early, and by "Master" she meant Sam Bockarie, and the house where we were was not far from the street and it was not far from Sam Bockarie's house. I saw the vehicles moving when he entered into his vehicle, that is Sam Bockarie, and his bodyguards too entered into the vehicle. There were some other vehicles too which moved with his. I saw them going.

When they returned I saw them come back to his house with the vehicles and they off-loaded some things and they were putting them into his place. And they called for Superman to go to a zoebush where herbalists were.

I think I said it here earlier that Sebatu who was the radio operator there for Sam Bockarie told me that her master and others were leaving Buedu for Foya. That was why she had returned earlier at home.

If I can say, exactly when they come back I did not see the things that they brought, everything, I did not physically see them. But when I was to return to Superman's ground, the things that they gave to Superman included arms, ammunition, alcoholic drinks which we referred to as morale booster and they said they had brought them from Foya. So if I can say what they brought was what I saw given out, but I cannot say exactly what they had brought.

Sam Bockarie took us to a zoebush which was outside Buedu where there were some herbalist and juju men who said they could protect people, they could protect somebody from bullets. They will make somebody bulletproof. Those are the people we called herbalists.

Like I said just now, I understood that why they came to Buedu was for them to perform the same juju practice for the RUF fighters to protect them from bullets. So they will mark the RUF fighters' bodies, so when they go to the war front bullets will not pierce their bodies and they will be brave enough to do whatever they had gone to do.

Well, first was the language that they spoke and, two, Sam Bockarie himself, when he was handing them over to Superman, that was what he said. And there was an old woman who was a Gbandi, the two of us spoke to each other. She told me.

She told me that they who were the herbalists had their boss who was a Loma tribesman. She said Charles Taylor had sent them to Sam Bockarie so that they will come and protect the RUF fighters' bodies from bullets, particularly we who were in Kono for us to be able to recapture Kono from the ECOMOG.

That evening that we went there Sam Bockarie introduced Superman to the herbalist and introduced the herbalist again to Superman and he told Superman what the herbalist had come to do. He told Superman that those were his strangers, that he was to take them to his base and it was from his base all the other commanders will bring their own men under their control to have them marked.

If I can say it is a Krio word. When everything is in abundance, thinking about ammunition that was in abundance, arms was in abundance, manpower was in abundance, and the morale booster that was cigarettes and alcoholic drinks they were all in abundance. In other words, I mean everything was in abundance.

Mr Santora, I don't understand if Fitti-Fatta operation was the procedure of marking the fighters, or it was the retaking of Koidu. When you asked, "What was this operation?", the way you asked it and the answer that the witness gives I am none the wiser.

Now, you said when Superman and Sam Bockarie - when Sam Bockarie had introduced Superman to the herbalist and then:

"He told Superman that those were his strangers, that he was to take them to his base and it was from his base all the other commanders will bring their own men under their control to have them marked."

Can you explain what you mean when you were saying that, "... it was from his base all the other commanders will bring their own men under their control to have them marked"?

At Superman's ground where we were, that is Meiyor or PC Ground, was where the herbalists were based. Superman's place was where the herbalists should be, so the other commanders who were in places like Yomandu, Gandorhun, Tombodu, Tefeya would bring the manpower which was under their control, both the armed and the unarmed men, the fighters, who were in those respective locations, to Superman's ground and it was there the herbalists were doing their work, what they had come to do. They were not - they never left Superman's ground to go to any other place. They were based there doing their work.

We went with some armed men with whom we had not left Superman's ground to go to Buedu. It was from Buedu that they had come from, from Sam Bockarie, to join us together with the herbalists, and we came with them to Superman's ground.

When we got to Superman's base, the next morning Superman gave me a message to send to Komba and Bai Bureh and Rambo and where Rocky CO was, where there was no radio, but it was from Yomandu that they took soldiers who went and told them the information about what they were supposed to do, for them to send their own manpower that they wanted for that Koidu operation for them to go to Superman's base and be marked by these herbalists.

I sent the message to Yomandu, Tefeya and Gandorhun by radio and it was a coded message. It went to Yomandu for Komba to also get soldiers under his command and send them to Tombodu so that they can transmit the same message to Rocky CO.

If I can answer that, all those commanders whom I have named who were at those various locations had men under their control who took commands from them. It was through these commanders that commands pass to go down to these men who were under their control and it was these soldiers who were under the various commanders that I am talking about.

After the message had been sent, these commanders whom I have named each one of them came with his own manpower from his own base, those whom he selected whom he felt will be able to go on this mission - this operation. For instance, Komba came with his own men, Rambo too came with his own men, Bai Bureh too came with his own men.

After they had come for the whole day, we were receiving these men. The next morning these herbalists created a special place for them to be doing this marking on the bodies of the soldiers and we went there. Because I spoke Gbandi, Superman called me to speak. When that Loma Pa was talking, the Gbandi woman would tell me and I will interpret what she tells me to those who did not understand the language. So, it was Superman first who was inside the place which was established. They marked there with a circle whereby when you entered that circle you did not come out until you were marked. I was the second person to enter that circle after Superman. I was standing there with Superman when I was talking what the Gbandi woman was telling me. So when they marked Superman the woman told me to sit down, I sat down and they marked me and they marked the rest of the other soldiers. We were there up to nightfall. They marked us and gave us laws for the markings that had been made on our bodies. After they had completed the marking, Komba and his men returned to their location. Rambo returned with his own men. Bai Bureh returned with his own men.

When they were giving us these marks the herbalists told us that it would be for seven days you did not - you should not take your bath, for seven days if you were a woman you should not have sex, if you were a man you should not have sex as well. For those seven days whatever was a slimy food, be it a sauce, you should not eat. You should not sit on a mortar for seven days.

Before they left, Superman met with these commanders and the men whom these commanders had brought and the men who were at our own base and they planned how to carry out this operation in Koidu whereby all these commanders were to attack Koidu from their own positions.

If I should explain that plan, after this instruction it was when they went back that they were to launch from Yomandu and all went on simultaneously. And those in Gandorhun were to come from the Gandorhun route to Koidu and we too were to leave Superman's base to Koidu.

The day when we received these marks, the next morning - because they didn't complete marking everybody, all the men that came. The next morning they completed it before 12 o'clock. Just after they had completed the marking of the men, when they were about to leave, that was the time they held the meeting.

Yes. When I went I was at first in a vehicle with the radio set which was not switched on. It was on the vehicle because wherever the attack was going on at, where it will be possible to switch on a radio set I will switch it on. And that same vehicle was also used by Superman up to the time with we got close to Koidu Town where the combat camp was.

And when we left the Guinea Highway, those of us who had come from Superman's place, we met Guineans on the way entering into Koidu Town. That was where the Guinean soldiers were under ECOMOG. Fighting took place there. The Guinean soldiers ended up running away. They abandoned their arms, their weapons that were mounted, which were heavy weapons, including 30 calibre, there were RPGs there and in the house, the corrugated tin shack where these Guinean soldiers were, they had ammunition there, a lot. So we took them and put them in the vehicle.

Then we went ahead and I was with Superman in that vehicle up to the time we got to Koidu Town. He alighted and joined the forces that were on the ground. I was in the vehicle and went up to Five-Five point where that bridge is. That was where I stopped. I returned to the cotton tree where you used the road to go to Tombodu. That was where I waited with the radio.

When we got to at that bridge, the ECOMOG had left Koidu Town and gone to Tankoro, to that Five-Five bridge, but just as we were getting to the bridge there were people who were RUF fighters in that bridge, but there were many in the bridge. The ECOMOG launched a bomb that exploded among them and over 20 RUF men died there. That made us to withdraw from that place. Though the other flanks where these men had come from, I was not with them so I can't tell exactly the time that they left Koidu, but it was from that time that I left Koidu, around 4.30 in the morning, to return to Superman's ground.

I first left there and went to Foday Lansana in Tefeya, and when I came back Superman told me that Mosquito, who is Sam Bockarie, had given him an order to move to go to Kurubonla where the SLAs, headed by SAJ Musa, where they were based. He said he should go and attack them, that Superman should launch an attack on the SLAs at Kurubonla, and that very day I was on the set when he sent a message to enquire if Superman had left to go. And Superman left that very day. He went to Yomandu.

The day that I received the message in which he included me and some of his bodyguards that he had left at Superman's base, we left the next day, but when we got to Yomandu I did not find Superman there. Komba was not there. It was Short Bai Bureh that I met in Yomandu.

When I got to Yomandu Superman was not there, he had already left for Kurubonla, but when I got to Yomandu I communicated with him that I and his other bodyguards have arrived in Yomandu. When he went to Kurubonla, the instruction which Sam Bockarie had given him he did not carry it out. He joined the SLAs and they moved from Kurubonla and went to Kabala. When I got to Yomandu and told him that we have arrived there, he said Short Bai Bureh should get manpower from among his own men whom we met so that we and the manpower from Yomandu and those of us who had come from Superman's base could go and meet them, he Superman, where they were. I passed the night in Yomandu and the next day in the evening one Senegalese met us in Yomandu.

Well Senegalese when I knew him, at first when he went that evening that he arrived Bai Bureh told me that he was an STF and the STF whom I knew were the ULIMO fighters who were fighting alongside the Sierra Leone Army in Sierra Leone. So, that was what Bai Bureh told me that Senegalese was STF. I surely knew him as a Liberian because he did not know how to speak Krio, he was speaking the Liberian English, and he said he was sent by Sam Bockarie to come and join Superman with reinforcement, which was composed of 30 men, for them to go and attack - for them to launch the attack which Sam Bockarie had sent Superman to carry out, but when he got to Yomandu Superman was not there at the time. The next morning --

Mrs Witness, I just have to ask you a few questions about some of the things you have just mentioned, okay? Now first of all you said, "Sam Bockarie had given him an order to move to Kurubonla." Who did Sam Bockarie give the order to?

Now, later on when you were saying - I asked you what happened when you got to Yomandu and you said:

"When I got to Yomandu, Superman was not there. He had already left for Kurubonla, but when I got to Yomandu I communicated with him that I and his other bodyguards have arrived in Yomandu." Who did you communicate with when you arrived at Yomandu?

Now, later on you said you passed the night and the next morning - the next day, I am sorry, "In the evening, one Senegalese met us at Yomandu." You went on to say - when I asked you who Senegalese was you said in your response, "He was speaking the Liberian English and he said he was sent by Sam Bockarie to come and join Superman with reinforcement." When you say, "He was speaking the Liberian English", who were you referring to?

That is what I have just said. When I first got to Yomandu, when Senegalese got to Yomandu, Bai Bureh told me that Senegalese was an STF. Senegalese himself told me that he had come from Liberia and that it was Sam Bockarie who had sent him to join Superman.

Because the STFs who joined the SLAs - I mean the AFRC and the RUF whom I saw and knew, they had taken a long time in Sierra Leone, they were speaking the Krio better, but Senegalese did not speak a single Krio.

I can still recall that there were some men among them who were Kpelle, whom I saw and saw them talking with the STF, and some of the Liberians who were still within the RUF who were Kpelle I heard them talking the language.

I have already told you what Senegalese told me and it was Senegalese and I in the group that we were, that is the signal unit, which was composed of radio people or people dealing with radio, that we went around with when we were leaving Yomandu to go to Kurubonla.

We left Yomandu with Senegalese. I, Superman's bodyguards and Short Bai Bureh's men who were in Yomandu whom he added on to us, left Yomandu for Kurubonla. That was the next day, after Senegalese and the others had arrived. The next day we left Yomandu.

We arrived at Kurubonla, having walked all day and all night. We arrived at Kurubonla, but Superman and SAJ Musa and others were not there any longer. It was only some soldiers, some SLAs and their wives whom they had, that we met at Kurubonla.

When we got to Koinadugu, before entering Koinadugu one last village from which you left, but it was not up to two miles to Koinadugu, that was where the STFs were. That was where I met the STFs whom General Bropleh was with. That was where they were based and that was where we met men who had come from Koinadugu from Superman's location where he and Superman, SAJ Musa, were. They came ahead of us in that village and we - together we entered Koinadugu.

It was in the evening that I entered Koinadugu. All the houses that were there it was just a few houses whereby the soldiers and SAJ Musa's men who had gone there did not occupy, and I did not really see civilians who were living by themselves, like you would say they were staying in their own houses, that is just civilians in a house, living in a house there.

Counsel and Madam Witness, I apologise for the late recommencing after the break. We were unavoidably detained due to a pressing judicial and jurisdictional matter, hence the delay. Mr Santora, please continue.

One other matter before we continue, Mrs Witness. This morning, when you were talking about your conversation at Yomandu with Senegalese, you said that, "Senegalese himself told me he had come from Liberia." Did he tell you why he came from Liberia to Sam Bockarie?

Now, you talked about various forces and units at Koinadugu when you arrived. You referred to a Strike Force unit and a Red Lion battalion. What is the - what do you known about the Red Lion battalion?

Pause, Madam Witness. The interpreter is trying to keep up with you. Could you please repeat the part of your answer that he did not hear. Start at the point where you said, "But the Red Lion battalion, that was" - now continue, please.

Yes, your Honour, at the beginning of this question I asked a date and month and the witness said - I asked her what month and year "you arrived at Koinadugu" and the witness said it was in August, and, "What year was that?" "1998". That's page 51, approximately lines 5 to 9 on my LiveNote.

I was there. Just as I said, I was there when they left and I knew that that was where they were going, because I was present when Superman told them what to do and when they arrived in Rosos O-Five communicated with Superman that they had arrived in Rosos.

The time we went there, because we were based in - at the time we were based in Koinadugu, civilians left the town, there were no civilians there, and the place became - the place was bushy and there were a lot of pumpkins in the town, many of them. That's why we called the place that way.

Well at the time we came to Pumpkin Ground Superman was still the head, because it was from Koinadugu that we scattered - that we - that SAJ Musa left us and Superman was the head in Pumpkin Ground and we left Pumpkin Ground to come to Makeni to attack Makeni.

Rambo's group came from Magburaka end, from Kono. They passed through Masingbi, Magburaka and they entered Makeni. And Superman's group, we passed through Binkolo, that was the highway to go to Kabala, and we passed through Bumbuna and we came down to Binkolo and we entered Makeni.

Once in a while we communicated with Buedu station and we also communicated with Rosos and Yomandu, and for us radio operators we communicated to our friends in the other stations that were controlled by RUF.

We, the operators, every day when we switched on the set we spoke to Buedu station to our colleague operators, because they had said that we were not RUF any more because Sam Bockarie had declared us that we were not RUF because Superman and others had joined SAJ Musa and others. So there was that problem between them, but we, the radio operators, used to talk to each other on a daily basis when once we switched the radios on.

When we left Pumpkin Ground for Makeni, whenever we switched on a radio if we for example got Buedu station, or any other friendly station, we will tell them where we were and what the situation was where we were.

I can call Buedu again, and at that time when we left Pumpkin Ground and while we were going we used to talk to Komba's station and at that time Short Bai Bureh was there. We also spoke to Gandorhun station, and in Buedu there was not only one station. They had about three stations. We spoke to them. Anyone we could get in contact with, we spoke to.

While we were going there was a village along the Bumbuna, that was very close to Bumbuna. When we got there, the very moment we said we should have a rest was when a jet came and bombed in the village where we were and there were many people amongst us who were armed and even some were unarmed, and women inclusive, some of them died and some others were wounded seriously. So we went to a place where we could have some time to care for the people who had been injured and there was where we were when we heard on the net - when Rambo - when we heard that Rambo and Bai Bureh had recaptured Koidu from ECOMOG and that they were advancing towards Makeni.

When they were sending the message from Rambo to Sam Bockarie, first it was an ambush message, an ambush that was set along the Koidu Highway towards Masingbi, from Njaiama Sewafe to go town. Along that highway they said was where they set the ambush and it was that ambush that finally made the ECOMOG to withdraw from Koidu and I monitored that message and after that message, when they too were advancing towards Makeni, Sam Bockarie sent a message to Superman that we should hurry up and join Rambo's group in Makeni.

So after receiving that message and you said you were in a village near - I apologise one moment. Well, I can just ask you again. Where were you when you received this message - when Superman received this message from Sam Bockarie to move to Kono - to Makeni?

From the village where we were, I was at the place for four days after the message had come, because we took a long time there for us, for up to two weeks, for those wounded people, the wounded soldiers, to be healed. So when the message came, Superman formed a group that was headed by Colonel T for them to go to Makeni and we called them the advanced team and Superman - I stayed at the base in that village.

When they went, at that time Rambo and others had entered Makeni Town from Magburaka Road and, according to the reports that Colonel T sent, they went and passed through Binkolo and went to - right up to the barracks in Makeni, but they could not enter the barracks, but they launched an attack on the barracks, but they could not enter the barracks, so they withdrew back to Binkolo.

You had just described some movements about how Rambo and others had entered Makeni Town from Magburaka Road and, according to the reports Colonel T sent, they went and passed through Binkolo and went right up to the barracks in Makeni, "But they could not enter the barracks, but they launched an attack on the barracks, but they could not enter the barracks, so they withdrew back to Binkolo." Simply, what I've just read to you, which you answered, how to you know that?

When they went, they didn't go with a radio set because we only had a set at the base and because of the jet raid we could not get energy, the battery was not functioning. We were using solar plates. So when they went they were fortunate to capture a radio which was a Codan, but the operator who was there did not know how to operate the radio. So whilst they were - while they were fidgeting with it he was able to switch it on and it was through that radio that he sent the message. So when Colonel T and others had left our base, we were listening through that radio to know what was happening and it was from that radio message that we understood what happened in Makeni.

Now, you said that initially they attacked the barracks but could not enter and they withdrew back to Binkolo. I'm referring - you said Colonel T's group. What happened after they withdrew back to Binkolo?

When they withdrew back to Binkolo and Colonel T sent the message to Superman, we left that village where Superman, I and others were and the women who could not move, who were with the wounded soldiers, and some armed men in the village, we moved. And the second group, that was our own group, that was Superman and myself, were there. We moved to join Colonel T and others in Binkolo and we arrived in Binkolo around 5.30 in the morning. When we arrived in Binkolo we communicated with the station that was in Makeni, which was Rambo's station, and Short Bai Bureh's station, which was at Teko Road, and at that time the road that led to Binkolo, there were no soldiers there. I mean neither ECOMOG, nor SLAs, or civilians. None of them were on that road. But the ECOMOG used it - particularly the SLAs, they used it from the barracks - to pull out from the barracks to go to Kabala and it was that same road that we used to enter Makeni. When we entered Makeni we went straight to where Bai Bureh was. That was Teko Road.

Just before you continue, Mrs Witness, I just want to understand something you said. You said that you joined Colonel T and others in Binkolo. You remember arriving around 5.30 in the morning. You communicated with the station that was in Makeni, which was Rambo's station and Short Bai Bureh's station, which was at Teko Road. At this point, who was in control of Makeni?

In Makeni Town, part of Makeni Town was occupied by RUF, RUF was in control, that was along Magburaka Highway and right up to the centre and Banana Road - sorry, RUF was in control. The ECOMOG and the SLAs were in the barracks.

Well, if I can clarify that, the first set of SLAs who were in Rosos, we the RUF still referred to them as SLAs, but it was because they were former Sierra Leonean army members. But when they joined the AFRC they were no longer referred to as such, but we still called them that way and the SLAs who were in the barracks were the ones who were still loyal to the government. They were the ones who people referred to as the SLAs at that time.

The question has been answered, but if counsel reads the question he posed it as, "Did Teko barracks remain in control". I think he meant to say whether ECOMOG and the SLAs still had control of Teko barracks.

The moment my group, that was Superman's group, joined Colonel T and we came to Makeni, we went straight to where Bai Bureh was, that was Teko Road, and we met Bai Bureh at Teko Road. Then Superman and I were sitting when Bai Bureh and Superman spoke and Bai Bureh was to go and show the barracks to Superman. And they stopped when they attacked the barracks, Bai Bureh and others when they attacked the Teko barracks, and from that moment we did not even rest for an hour when we moved to Teko barracks. When we were going to Teko barracks, there was a school which was along the road going to Teko barracks called MCA. It was there that we met an armoured tank coming from the barracks to enter Makeni Town, and it was from that spot that a battle started and we then went into the barracks. We entered right into the barracks at night and we were in the barracks until 5.30 in the morning.

When I was in Lunsar, I was living in the same house where Superman was and it was at the same house that the radio station was. On 6 January I went at night and I operated, but it was not for the whole day and early in the morning --

I started by saying that when I was in Lunsar I was at the same house as Superman's and it was at that same house that we had the radio that was there for Superman and was operated by me. 6 January I switched on the radio, but I did not operate for the whole day. On 7 January, early in the morning --

It was 7 January, 5.30 in the morning, that BBC usually gives the news. It was then that I heard that rebels had entered Freetown and they had captured the State House. I heard that first over the media, so I came from out of my room and switched on the radio. So when there was daybreak already, that was around 7, there were radiomen who had gone to Freetown. They were in the group that had left Rosos, they were the ones who entered Freetown, and we got those men on the radio.

At the time that I knew that the men from Rosos had entered Freetown I first got that from the BBC, and when I switched on the radio at 7 in the morning the men who had come from Rosos switched on their radio and I heard them calling to inform that they've entered Freetown.

Gullit spoke to Sam Bockarie and the operators who were there, King Perry. O-Five too spoke to us, that is Superman and I who were at the station at the time, that they had captured State House and that they have freed prisoners who were at Pademba Road.

He spoke to us about the State House that they had captured and how they were enthusiastic, how they were happy. He also spoke to us about Gibril Massaquoi and how they released the prisoners from Pademba Road.

Later, through message that was sent by Gullit to Sam Bockarie, I too monitored that message. A message came from O-Five to Superman that stated where they passed around Waterloo when they went to Freetown which --

A message came from O-Five to Superman whereby that same message told us that they've lost SAJ Musa when they were going to Freetown and the route they used where SAJ Musa had died before they entered Freetown and what they captured there. Most of the things that they captured there, including the State House and the release of the prisoners, came in the form of a message.

I'm just going to ask you to clarify that last sentence. You said, "Most of the things that they captured there, including the State House and the release of the prisoners, came in the form of a message." What do you mean when you say, "Most of the things that they captured there ... came in the form of a message"?

He sent a message. When I say he sent a message, I said from Sam Bockarie - as the operator was sending the message he would have the front column whereby the person who was sending this message would have his name and the person he was sending it to, and I myself received that message.

Yes. We went to Gberi Junction where you take a route to go to Port Loko and Masiaka. We used the main road and we were in a vehicle when we went to Masiaka, on to Waterloo and on to Hastings. We stopped at Hastings because we were unable to dislodge the ECOMOG who were at Hastings. We were unable to pass through Hastings, so we returned to Yams Farm. That was where we were based.

Well, we left Lunsar at around 4.00 p.m. and we waited at Gberi Junction until 7, because the jet was raiding the main highway. So we left Gberi Junction at night and we arrived at Hastings in the morning, but it was between 4.30 to 5.00. It was still - it was daybreak then.

Now, first of all you said when you got to Hastings you couldn't cross or - one moment. That you couldn't dislodge the ECOMOG who were at Hastings. Can you describe what happened actually when you got to Hastings?

Like I said, we were unable to dislodge the ECOMOG. From the time we left Lunsar, apart from Masiaka, it was at Four Mile that we met - we found out that fighting had taken place there. The next place was Hastings. That was where the ECOMOG soldiers were based and we could not have just passed through. Fighting had to go on. There was some shooting for some hours, but because of the river that was around the town, except the main road, there was no other route to use to enter Hastings and we were not able to enter Hastings.

When I switched on the set the first thing that I did was to call the Buedu station and I passed on an information to them that we were now at Yams Farm and have been unable to enter Hastings. By that time we were expecting that the group that was in Freetown would come to Hastings so that when we were coming from Yams Farm, so that we would join them at Hastings, but at that time the ECOMOG had already dislodged them from State House and when I switched on the set I heard the message going to Sam Bockarie that the ECOMOG had dislodged the men who were in Freetown at the State House and that the State House had been recaptured from our men who were there.

Mr Santora, I'm not sure, this message, who she was sending this message to. She keeps saying "them" and I'm not sure if it's the people in Freetown, or Sam Bockarie at the base in Buedu. I'm referring to page 76 from line 2 where she says, "I switched on the set the first thing I did was to call Buedu", passed on an information to them and - okay, so it was Buedu that she was passing this information.

So when you arrived in Yams Farm you said the first thing that you did was call the Buedu station and, "I passed on an information to them that we were now at Yams Farm." So who specifically did you send that information to?

Now, later on you were describing a communication going to Sam Bockarie that "... the ECOMOG had dislodged the men who were in Freetown and that the State House had been recaptured from our men who were there." I want you to continue - well, first of all, can you just start again explaining this communication relating to State House?

The communication that I'm talking about, whereby it was Gullit who sent a message to Sam Bockarie over the radio saying that the ECOMOG had pushed them out of State House and that fighting was going on in Freetown at that time. I monitored it when he was sending that message to Sam Bockarie, and after he had sent the message to Sam Bockarie he first - Sam Bockarie first asked Gullit if Gullit and others still had the prisoners with them and he answered "Yes". And when he said that fighting was going on in Freetown, Sam Bockarie told him that if the men, that is the ECOMOG, forced Gullit and others out of Freetown, they should burn the fucking place and that they should not spare anything. He said that verbally.

Well, if I can say what I mean, I am sure you too can say anything and nothing will result from it, be it property, a house, be it a human being, anything, which means everything. That is what I mean. That is what I understood.

I am sure I can clarify that, because I have already answered it. In anything that I say, that nothing would result from it. Like I am here now in this place, if you can tell me to take anything in here it can mean that I can take a computer, or a cup, or anything that is in here. That's what you mean because you've not - you've not said what - specified what I should take. That was why I said nothing was exempted from what was in Freetown, be it a house, be it people, property, vehicles, anything that was there.

The communication that I heard was still based on the dislodging, that ECOMOG dislodged the fighters at State House and the fighting that was going on, because he said the fighting was intense. And Superman too asked him for Gibril Massaquoi and he said that Gibril Massaquoi was with them, that is O-Five and others.

After Sam Bockarie had given this order to Gullit he gave another to Superman saying that Superman and his men should stay at Yams Farm to ensure that there is a safe corridor for those coming from Freetown, because they were now in disarray in Freetown and so we were to stay at Yams Farm to wait on the group that was coming from Freetown.

Your Honour, yes. Madam President, I rise merely to enquire what the situation is in relation to the witness in respect of whom a ruling was given yesterday. I ask merely for this reason: That I, of course, have the responsibility of organising resources within our team and in order to organise our diaries it would be useful to know what the situation is in respect of that individual and whether it is still proposed to interpose him at some stage, because that has consequences in terms of who will be in attendance for the Defence team in court. So it would be useful to know what the position is now in respect of the witness.

Good afternoon, Mrs Witness. Mrs Witness, I am just going to ask you about something you just said before the break - before the lunch break. You said that Sam Bockarie told Superman that his men, "Should stay at Yams Farm to ensure that there is a safe corridor for those coming from Freetown." What do you mean when you say "a safe corridor"?

What I meant by safe corridor was if we were not at Yams Farm at that time when the men in Freetown, headed by Gullit and O-Five, were dislodged they could not come to Yams Farm. We made - we created a safe area, that was Yams Farm, for ECOMOG not to be able to base there, so those who would be coming from Freetown would come and join us safely.

Now, your Honours, I would ask at this point that the witness be shown a map which is labelled at S19. Now, initially distributed to your Honours was a pre-marked map. In light of yesterday's ruling, this map I am proposing to show the witness is a blank map.

Madam President, I do not have a copy of the map in the original map book that was given to us by the Prosecution. I do understand that perhaps it was distributed, but perhaps we could have some indication of which witness - in conjunction with which it was distributed.

Actually it was distributed with two witnesses, one was TF1-577 and another one this week with TF1-168 on Tuesday and I am informed that we requested that it be put in the map book after distributing copies for TF1-577.

I will check. Just to note the map that has been given to Defence counsel, the only difference is that he will notice that on the top and the bottom there is an extra white border area that was cut off.